Irate baby boomer fears Vega means vegetate

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Baby boomers are united in their fury at any suggestion they are
the same: "We're all individuals, and we won't be typecast as a
marketing niche."

That's why the new FM radio station Vega 95.3 is taking a risk
in pitching itself to people between 40 and 60 and in presuming to
know their tastes. It would seem Vega's bosses believe the target
demographic wants a mix of 702-lite and 2WS-slow.

It is, of course, unfair to judge a station on its first four
days. But instant judgements and short attention spans are part of
the stereotype Vega celebrates, so here is one boomer's reaction to
Sydney's latest novelty:

Plodding pace. Breakfast should sound busy, but the
transplanted Angela Catterns is so leisurely she sends us back to
sleep. Listeners to 702 would hear 10 voices in 10 minutes. On
Vega, she stretches one interview to 20 minutes and plays songs
longer than three minutes. We need speed, not Prozac.

Football fetishism. Tony Squires is funny and Rebecca
Wilson is smart but they've made their drive shift incomprehensible
to anyone who does not follow rugby league.

Cliche content. In a rare non-league moment, Squires and
Wilson do talkback on "mid-life crises" and Wilson interviews her
father in London. Mid-morning presenter Wendy Harmer does a routine
about "manners on the road", followed by an interview with
uber-boomer Richard Neville, Oz editor turned futurologist.
Does Vega have to be so predictable?

No news sense. To avoid rehashing topics so timeless we
could be in 1975, Vega might think about employing reporters,
researchers and experienced producers. The best thing on air all
week was a hilarious interview between Harmer and Bob Carr, which
suggests that, given energetic support staff, she wouldn't need to
resort to old stand-up routines.

So is there anything good about Vega? The music. Vega offers a
more interesting variety than 2WS and back-announces the title and
the performer.

Disclosure: David Dale admits to being over 40 and to having
done breakfast broadcasting.